Molten lava river reaches base of pali ~ Deflation slows advancing lava ~ Cold & gusty north winds

Shot of the Day: Pahoehoe lava formation termed a ‘Toe’ by geologists

My house is being blasted by very strong, gusty and cold north winds this morning!

Reports from the active lava flow fields from all sources say that the long line of moving lava coming off the top of the pali and running down through the western side of what was the Royal Gardens subdivision, has continued and now has reached the base of the pali and may move out onto the coastal flats toward the ocean.

The movement of lava out across the lava flats, across previous flows, may be jeopardized by the onset of deflation beneath the Kilauea and Pu`u O`o craters.
As the USGS Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory often points out, as they did in their Volcano Observatory update this morning, deflation of monitored magma often leads to a reduction in the Halema’uma’u, and possibly the Pu`u O`o pit vent brightness and followed soon after, a lessening of surface flow activity of molten lava from the eruption fissures.

I may go out to the lower flow fields’ today/tonight and take a look at the activity and give a report tomorrow.